This discovery relates to a new and distinct variety of apple tree identified by the varietal name of Red Jonaprince. The new variety, which is a naturally occurring mutation of a Jonagold tree, an unpatented cultivar, was discovered as a whole plant in the discoverers' orchard in Weert, The Netherlands in 1994.
The fruit of the new variety has a non-greasy, smooth skin, distinctive yellow-brown lenticels, no stripes, a red stalk regardless of fruit color, and is about 98 percent red colored at picking time. The new variety is sufficiently mature at one year to produce fruit for consumption and all of the fruit has the same color on the same day. The leaf stalk is red up to the veins. The fruit has a little more sugar, is a little more sour and has firmer flesh than Jonagold, and is ready for picking four to five weeks earlier than Jonagold. The yield of Red Jonaprince is similar to that of Jonagold, the bearing habit is annual and the tree is spur bearing. There is no russetting with respect to the fruit. The fruit is suitable for the fresh fruit market. At the end of the flowering period, the receptacle is more intensely colored (purple red) than Jonagold's receptacle (soft pink red).
The new variety has been propagated by grafting onto root stocks of existing varieties including M9 and MM106. This grafting produced fruit with the same distinctive characteristics. There are now second generation trees bearing fruit.